William B. Saxbe

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William B. Saxbe

William Bart Saxbe (born June 24, 1916 in Mechanicsburg , Champaign County , Ohio , † August 24, 2010 ibid) was an American lawyer and diplomat , politician , senator and attorney general (Attorney General) .

University studies, World War II, Korean War and professional career

Saxbe first completed a general education course at Ohio State University in Columbus , which he completed in 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) . In the fall of that year, he married Ardath Louise Kleinhans, with whom he had three children: William Bart Jr., Juliet Louise and Charles Rockwell .

During the Second World War he served as a soldier from 1940 to 1945. After the war, he began to study law at his alma mater , which he obtained in 1948 with an LL.B. completed. In the same year he established himself as a lawyer in Columbus. After the beginning of the Korean War , he served as a soldier in the US Army from 1951 to 1952, despite his political mandate .

After his final retirement from politics in 1977, he worked again as a lawyer in Mechanicsburg.

Political career

Promotion to United States Senator

Saxbe began his political career while still a student in 1947 when he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives . There he represented the interests of the Republican Party until 1954 . In 1953 and 1954 he was also President ( Speaker ) of Parliament; in this capacity he succeeded Gordon Renner

In 1957 he was able to prevail in the election as Attorney General of Ohio against the Democratic competitor Stephen M. Young , next to whom he later represented Ohio in the US Senate . After two years, however, he lost re-election to Mark McElroy . It was not until 1963 that he was re-elected Minister of Justice and this time held the office until 1969. From 1967 to 1968 he was also a member of the state's Crime Commission.

In 1968 he ran for election to the US Senator. He asserted himself against the later Democratic governor of Ohio, John J. Gilligan . Saxbe represented the interests of his state until December 17, 1973 in Congress . Howard Metzenbaum was succeeded as Senator on January 4, 1974 , but was replaced on December 24, 1974 by the former astronaut John Glenn .

Attorney General under Nixon and Ford

On December 17, 1973, Saxbe was appointed by President Richard Nixon as Attorney General in his cabinet . Before his appointment, there was a small controversy, as the constitution forbade a parliamentarian to take on an executive office if he had previously voted as a member of the legislature on the salary of the government office during the same election period . However, since there was no apparent preference for Saxbe, this provision was ignored.

During his tenure, he tried in particular to keep the Justice Department out of the investigation into the Watergate affair , but this turned out to be difficult as two of his predecessors ( Richard Kleindienst and especially John Mitchell ) were investigated because of the affair. Incidentally, as Minister of Justice, he pursued a tough style based on Law and Order , particularly in the fight against armed crimes. On the other hand, he wrote a report that criticized the FBI's previous actions, particularly against the Black Panther Party .

He was also a member of the cabinet under President Gerald Ford until he was replaced by Edward H. Levi on January 14, 1975. Following this, he was from February 1975 to November 1976 , United States Ambassador in India , succeeding Daniel Patrick Moynihan .

Web links

Commons : William B. Saxbe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cleveland.com, Aug. 24, 2010
  2. encyclopedia.com